Dictator Kim is shown after the exercise as his generals applaud the North Korean leader

North Korea puts on a massive live-fire artillery drill as a U.S. submarine docks in the South

But the real reason for such an awesome display of firepower can only be to send a message to the South and US to back off or else.

Meanwhile the US and South Korean troops have staged their own massive war game on the border with North Korea as a show of strength should the despot decide to test anymore nuclear bombs or missiles.

The massive show of forces comes amid reports the US has been deploying its controversial Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system aimed at downing enemy rockets – a move that is sure to anger China as much as the North.

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Power hungry North Korea has ambitions to build a missile capable of reaching the US mainland and tensions have soared in recent months as it carried out a spate of missile tests that sparked tit-for-tat sabre-rattling between it and Washington.

The North's Rodong Sinmun - the official mouthpiece of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea - warned Tuesday of dire consequences in the event of a US-led pre-emptive strike.

It promised "the most brutal punishment... in the sky and land as well as at sea and from underwater without any warning or prior notice".

North Korean broadcaster KCNA said the brainchild of the bombardment was Kim Jong-un.

The report said: "After receiving the report on the plan for the combined fire demonstration.

"Submarines rapidly submerged to make torpedo-attacks at the 'enemy' warships while fighters and bombers made zero feet flight above the sea to drop bombs on the targets."

This graphic shows Kim's missile range and the size of his armed forces in North Korea

Despite insisting the US will not launch a pre-emptive strike on the communist country, a Republican senator has declared "Trump will not allow nut job Kim to develop intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of hitting US".

In a tweet, Senator Lindsey Graham warned: “If I were North Korea, I would not underestimate President Trump's resolve to stop them from getting a missile to hit our homeland.”

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